Your 'digital Will'

Estate planning is all about putting your affairs in order, both to ensure that your estate goes to those you want to receive it, but also to make things easier on those left behind. But more and more of our daily lives and tasks are carried out online, and without having our digital lives in order, problems can arise.

Passwords are hard enough to keep track of for owners of accounts, let alone family members trying to log in to someone’s account after their death. And these passwords can lead to anything from social media, to bank and utility accounts. The accounts to do with finances are the most important, but it can also be distressing for family members to realise there is no way to access email and social media accounts. There are also other things which can make the grieving process more difficult - what about that cloud photo account that you can no longer access that has irreplaceable memories of the person you have lost?

It is therefore important to keep a secure log of your passwords - password management systems like Lastpass or Bitwarden do this by securely storing your passwords in a digital archive. As long as you ensure your family know the ‘master password’ to log in to it, they will then have all your passwords to hand.

A list of what is in your cloud storage accounts can also be helpful, if there are important documents in them, as well as a list of all active utility accounts, which can help family members see upcoming bills and statements. Another suggestion is nominating someone computer savvy as a ‘digital executor’ who will be responsible for sorting out your digital Will after your death.

This is just another part of ensuring that things are made just that little bit easier for your family in a difficult time - with good planning comes a much easier transition process after your death.